


the snow and the falling

by reachthetree



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas at Hogwarts, M/M, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-25 00:30:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9794399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reachthetree/pseuds/reachthetree
Summary: Absentmindedly, Remus starts stroking Sirius’ hair. It’s due for a wash, really, but he doesn’t mind.“It’s our last Christmas at Hogwarts,” Sirius says quietly. “We’re running out of chances.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> i'm in a writing rut and asked for ficlet prompts, and my lovely friend jasmine suggested a good old wolfstar xmas at hogwarts, so here we are. enjoy!

Remus had every intention of studying over Christmas break, but despite years of experience he didn’t consider the disruptive presence of Sirius. He’s currently bent over Remus, long hair tickling Remus’ neck, and covering the pages of Advanced Transfiguration with his hands. They’re a little dry and cracked, but the nails are well-trimmed.

“Please,” Sirius whines. “Stop reading for an hour and do something fun with me.”

“If you let me read for an hour I can do something fun with you for even longer,” Remus bargains. Sirius is warm against him. Remus stops himself from leaning back into it.

“But I’m bored now.” Sirius sighs, Remus can feel it on his head. “Surely you can study after Christmas.”

“The full moon is January third.”

Sirius removes his hands from the book and puts them on Remus’ shoulders. “Sorry.” He squeezes once before stepping away completely, leaving Remus cold again. Not that it’s cold in the common room, there’s a fire burning and Remus is wearing the thick socks Mrs Potter gave him last Christmas, but in comparison.

“One hour,” Sirius says firmly. Remus nods.

But when Sirius’ footsteps have faded away, Remus finds himself unable to focus. He can still feel the light tickle of Sirius’ hair on his neck. Outside the window the falling snow is still visible in the dying daylight.

After he’s read the same sentence five times without absorbing it, and it’s definitely dark outside the window, he gives up.

Sirius is on his bed. Remus stops in the doorway when he sees it. It’s not that this is an uncommon occurrence; cuddling is one of Sirius’ many talents and hobbies, and since James and Lily got together Remus is often his first choice. But Remus is usually there before him, or gets in with him. Now he looks at Sirius and he looks perfectly at home in Remus’ space. He belongs there.

“Hey.” Sirius sits up when he sees Remus. “That wasn’t an hour.”

Remus shakes his head, hoping the soppy thoughts will shatter against his skull. “Never knew you to look a gift horse in the mouth,” he shoots back. 

“More like a gift wolf.” Sirius grins. 

Despite himself, Remus laughs as he crosses the room. You’d think the animal jokes would get old, but it has yet to happen. 

He puts the book on his bedside table and sits down on the bed, leaning back against his pillows. Immediately, Sirius lies down on him, head on his chest and his body pressed up against Remus’ right side, an arm around his stomach. Let the cuddle games begin, Remus thinks to himself.

“I didn’t think this through properly,” Sirius says against Remus’ shirt, voice vibrating on his skin. “Staying at Hogwarts.”

For a second, Remus’ heart stops beating. Of course Sirius would rather be with the Potters, with James, even if the latter will be holding hands with Lily and doing whatever she says.

“I mean,” Sirius continues, “there’s barely anyone left to prank! What was I thinking?”

Remus laughs in relief. It makes Sirius’ head bob. “You were thinking that James isn’t as dedicated a cuddle partner as he used to be,” he says, “while I, as your designated dateless friend, am dependable as your human pillow.” He laces his voice with just enough sarcasm that he can say he doesn’t mean it.

Sirius snorts. “Yeah, that must be it.” He snuggles closer. Remus is very aware of his heartbeat. A-live, a-live, a-live. 

And what a bleak world it would be if Sirius Black wasn’t alive in it. Absentmindedly, Remus starts stroking Sirius’ hair. It’s due for a wash, really, but he doesn’t mind.

“It’s our last Christmas at Hogwarts,” Sirius says quietly. “We’re running out of chances.”

Remus’ hand trembles, but he keeps carding through Sirius’ hair with his fingers.

*

“Do you think the ice will hold?” Sirius look at Remus with a grin, hair sticking out wildly under his red wool hat.

“Let’s not test it,” Remus says dryly, “I’d rather not have to rescue you from drowning again.”

Sirius rolls his eyes. “That was one time! I was a dog!”

The sun is shining to the best of its ability, which in midwinter means that everything glitters but nothing is warm. Sirius’ cheeks are stained red by the cold, and Remus assumes he looks the same, except slightly less handsome.

Sirius takes a step forward, towards Remus, and raises his eyebrows. “Besides, what are you gonna do about it, eh?” He winks, then spins around and starts sprinting towards the lake.

For a microsecond Remus thinks _why is he like this_ , and then he runs after him. Sirius is fast but Remus’ legs are longer, and he catches up to him a good couple meters from the shore, promptly tackling him and pinning him to the ground. Sirius flails his legs and shakes his head, snow cascading around him, but it’s no use. Remus has a firm grip on his arms and is sitting comfortably on his hips.

“Fine,” Sirius pants. “Now what?” He stills, and Remus knows this is the moment to let go and start a snowball fight or something. He doesn’t.

“Technically,” Remus says, and tries to even his breathing, “I just saved your life again.”

Sirius scoffs. “My life wasn’t in danger, plonker.”

“Your life is always in danger.”

The cold is starting to seep in through Remus’ mittens, but he doesn’t want to remove them from Sirius’ arms. He looks down on him, the red hat and the flushed skin, the black hair, all against the backdrop of crisp snow. It’s beautiful.

Sirius’ face changes, then. From joking to something else. He looks up at Remus with furrowed brows and lips slightly parted. It’s gone in a second, and he grins again and says, “come closer, I gotta tell you something”.

This can’t mean anything good, but Remus leans down. He starts angling his ear towards Sirius’ face, but as soon as he’s within reach, Sirius lifts his head and crashes his chapped lips against the corner of Remus’ mouth.

Remus freezes. The point of contact burns, and feels like it will do so forever.

When he looks at Sirius, the latter is looking at him like he’s waiting for the answer to a question. Remus feels like if he speaks, the moment will shatter, so he experimentally leans down and kisses Sirius for a fraction of a second, pulling back quickly in case that’s not the answer Sirius was looking for. 

Sirius chases after his lips. So that was the answer. Remus lets up his grip, and meets Sirius’ mouth again. This time, neither is holding back. Sirius’ nose is cold when it touches Remus’ cheek, but it doesn’t matter. One of the other students who’ve stayed could see them, but that doesn’t matter either. Sirius kisses the same way he performs new spells; with infuriating talent and few to no mistakes.

When they come up for air, Sirius smiles, and it turns into a laugh. Remus can’t help but join him.

“Well,” Sirius says, “this has been charming, but I think my bum is mostly ice by now.”

Remus laughs even harder when he gets up and pulls Sirius to standing. He doesn’t let go of Sirius’ hand once he’s upright, and Sirius crowds close to him and kisses him again. Remus smiles.

“What was that for?” He asks softly, face still just a few inches from Sirius.

Sirius kisses him again, then replies with warm breath against his mouth. “I didn’t want to run out of chances.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! please leave me a kudo if you smiled, that sweet validation sustains me. xx


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